1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a medical apparatus, and more particularly, to an elongated tubular apparatus having an inflatable leading end.
2. Background Information
Many innovative techniques in modern medicine involve the insertion of a medical device, such as a catheter or other elongated tubular apparatus, into remote sites within the body of a patient. Among others, such techniques include balloon angioplasty, the delivery of medical interventional devices and/or fluids to or from a target site, the introduction of nutritional materials to remote internal sites, and the introduction of fluids for use in diagnostic or other medical imaging techniques. The foregoing list represents only a small sampling of the types of medical techniques that have now become commonplace. Numerous additional techniques continue to be developed, and such development is expected to continue at a rapid pace in future years.
In many cases, the catheter or other elongated apparatus utilized in the medical technique must traverse tortuous passageways in the body to arrive at the intended destination. Ideally, such an apparatus will have sufficient rigidity to optimize the trackability of the apparatus, and yet not be so rigid as to prevent the apparatus from traversing the curves and bends encountered along the passageway. In addition, the apparatus would ideally have a leading (distal) end that is formed in a manner to reduce the risk of puncture and/or other trauma with sensitive tissue encountered by that end as the apparatus traverses the passageway.
The medical community has attempted to confront these concerns in many different ways. For example, some apparatuses are constructed from materials that provide the apparatus with a more rigid, or higher durometer, proximal end, and a less rigid, or lower durometer, distal end. Providing an apparatus having less rigidity at the distal end enables the leading end of the apparatus to more easily flex around the tortuous bends, while at the same time maintaining the trackability of the apparatus at the proximal end. Nevertheless, the distal end of such apparatuses must typically retain a sufficient amount of rigidity to enable it to track the particular target area. Other apparatuses incorporate a reinforcement, such as a helical coil, into the body of the apparatus that enables the apparatus to flex when necessary, and return to its original configuration without kinking following the flexure. Although such apparatuses exhibit a desirable amount of kink resistance in many instances, the leading end of the apparatus must still be capable of tracking the target area in a substantially non-traumatic manner.
These and related apparatuses have significantly improved the ability of the medical professional to introduce medical interventional devices, such as stents, and/or fluids to remote areas that had previously been difficult, if not impossible, to reach. However, passage of the apparatus to such remote areas exposes sensitive areas of the body to an apparatus that, in most cases, has a leading end that is still harder and more rigid than the tissue that it confronts along the passageway. In addition, the leading end of the apparatus also typically has a configuration that exposes the tissue to an increased risk of puncture and trauma.
It is desired to provide an elongated medical apparatus suitable for introduction into remote and sensitive areas of the body, wherein the elongated apparatus has a leading end that exhibits a reduced risk of puncture and/or trauma of the surrounding tissue when compared to existing apparatuses. It is also desired to provide a method for gaining access to body anatomy through a bodily passageway of a patient utilizing an elongated medical apparatus having an inflatable distal end.